Two Mothers Watching
by Violets and Lilies
Summary: As Thumper and Bambi play on the ice, their mothers watch and think.
1. Mrs Rabbit POV

"Mama, Mama, look what Thumper's doing!" My five excited daughters came bounding through the snow to where I was digging, with fairly vain hopes of finding some last greens before the winter really set in.

I went to my hind legs immediately to scan the meadow for energetic son and wondered what sort of admonishment his father would need to give tonight. My eyes darted to and fro, even as I kept my head and body perfectly still—the meadow was always dangerous, no matter what the season.

Only my girl's hysterical laughter made me look down, paws on my hips, as they rolled about laughing on their backs.

"_Girls_, what did your father tell you this morning?" I asked with some annoyance.

Daisy stopped her belly laugh long enough to point down a particular hill and say in a voice nearly drowned in giggles, "Down there mama, down there; on the pond."

I returned to my upright position in time to see Thumper beating on the ice with his hind foot and beckoning for someone to join him. I couldn't make out his words, as I was downwind and the breeze was blowing even his loud voice in the other direction.

I looked towards the bank to see who his playmate was and gasped! Our little Prince! My son was trying to get our little Prince to come onto the ice and play. I wished, again, for the millionth time, that Thumper would learn to think before he spoke or acted.

I started to call to him, but I was too late—our little Prince was already plunging down the hill with a look of wild excitement and determination on his face. All I could do was cringe as he hit the ice and spun around as if he were caught up in a whirlwind. When he finally came to a stop, he looked dazed. I hoped he wasn't hurt.

Thumper immediately hopped over and I was relieved that our little Prince seemed to okay.

Then, I was dumbstruck when my son decided they should continue this game—why couldn't he see that something horrible could happen? Deer hoofs aren't made for walking on ice—and of all the deer in the forest, my son has to have _our Prince_ on the ice!

Thumper proceeded to give our Prince a demonstration of how well a rabbit's foot can bare us along on the ice, but as the young deer continued to half-rise and fall on the ice, my son continued to fail to notice the difference between our wide flat feet and a deer's tiny hooves. He even took to helping our young Prince try to stand. At one point, the only thing he managed to do was help our Prince get his hind legs tangled up.

I was glad our Prince didn't end up with broken legs!

Finally, to my great surprise, our little Prince did manage to stay upright for a few moments. Then, to my horror, my son decided that that meant our Prince was ready to skate and gave him a push from behind. The little Prince held up well for a few moments before having to take some wild steps and both boys plowed into the snow bank.

After the two youngsters recovered their feet, Thumper beat the snow from his ears and then became interested in something hidden away in a tree—I could only hope that he would leave whoever it might be alone.

I was glad that the escapade on ice was over!


	2. Bambi's Mother POV

I watched little son playing by himself. He was having so much fun looking at the imprints that his tiny hooves made in the snow. I sighed—wishing that he had someone to play with, but he is so very shy—then I went back to striping bark off trees because the grass seemed to be gone till spring.

I next looked up when I heard a familiar voice calling to my son. My head whipped towards the direction of the sound and I stood, muscles tense, until I had located it—then I relaxed and smiled. It was my little one's best friend, Thumper, calling to him. Thumper was anxious to show my little one something, as he waved his paw and took off down a sloop towards the pond. He took a flying leap and went spinning about, on his tail, on the ice. Then he called for Bambi to join him.

I was surprised and, naturally tensed up—it's generally not for us deer to play on the ice. I wondered why Thumper didn't seem to think about that. Of course, then I wondered why _Bambi_ didn't think about that, because he was suddenly running, full blast, down the slope! Then, he was spinning like a top on the slippery ice. I cringed as he hit, but Thumper was right there and Bambi seemed to think it was fun.

I smiled then! That boisterous little bunny was exactly the type of friend my shy son needed to bring him out of his shell.

Thumper was soon showing Bambi how much fun it is to skate on the ice, and I again wondered what would happen when Bambi tired to stand—our hooves are just not built for skating.

My little Bambi made several attempts to stand, all of them failing, but I was proud that he never gave up. Soon, Thumper came to help—which actually turned out to be pretty comical as Bambi only got his hind legs tangled up.

Thumper helped him untangle, and finally, to my surprise, Bambi actually held his balance for a few moments. Then, I was more surprised when Thumper gave my little one a push, surely that wouldn't help his balance!

They began to skate toward the edge of the pond, and I nearly smiled, but then my son started to wobble and look a little petrified—I, naturally, tensed up in expectation of the two boys hitting the bank.

They did just that and I finally smiled. They were both just fine.


End file.
